Website pre & post launch checklist
Website pre & post launch checklist
Content
- All text free from spelling errors
- Page and content formatting appropriate on all pages
- Placeholder text removed
- All pages have content
- Privacy Policy included
- Print stylesheet exists and tested
- Favicon created and displays correctly (retina included) https://realfavicongenerator.net/
- Device icons created and display correctly
- Footer includes copyright statement
- 404 page exists and informative
- Correct author is attributed to pages and posts (as required)
SEO & Analytics
- Page titles are descriptive and SEO friendly
- All page titles are unique
- Meta data included and appropriate
- H1s used for page titles and only one H1 per page
- XML sitemap has been generated and added to root of website
- robots.txt is generated and added to root of website
- 301 redirects for existing website are prepared and in place
- Website can be accessed by search engines (remove noindex, nofollow for pages)
- Google Analytics and relevant analytics/tracking tools installed
Social
- Open Graph tags included across website and appropriate? (including images where possible)
- Social accounts integrated, linking to correct URLs and use API for integrations
Markup
- HTML has passed validation (or known issues noted)
- CSS has passed validation (or known issues noted)
- Bonus: CSS tested on CSS Lint (to hurt your feelings)
- Site links have been tested and resolve correctly
- JavaScript is error free
Accessibility
- Website meets appropriate level of WCAG compliance
- ARIA Landmark Roles specified
- Semantic headings and structure used
- Links are clearly recognisable and have :focus state
- Images use appropriate ALT text
- Alternatives provided for users with Javascript disabled
- Forms have logical layout
- Associated label for all form controls
- Colour contrast tested
- Website accessibility has been checked with Total Validator Pro or WAVE and issues resolved (exceptions noted)
Rendering
- Displays & functions correctly in Firefox (Windows)
- Displays & functions correctly in Firefox (Mac)
- Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (Windows)
- Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (Mac)
- Displays & functions correctly in Safari (Mac)
- Displays & functions correctly in Safari (iOS – Mobile)
- Displays & functions correctly in Safari (iOS – iPad)
- Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (iOS – Mobile)
- Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (iOS – iPad)
- Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (Android – Mobile)
- Displays & functions correctly in Chrome (Android – Tablet)
- Displays & functions correctly in stock browser (Android)
- Displays & functions correctly in Microsoft Edge
- Displays & functions correctly on large resolutions
Functionality
- Forms have been tested and processed correctly
- Required fields have been tested
- Review input validation (min/max lengths, character limits)
- Forms send to the correct recipient
- Forms have confirmation URL or event tracking so submissions can be tracked
- Forms process correctly with JavaScript disabled
- Website search and search results function correctly
Optimisation
- Images have been optimised
- CSS is minified and combined
- JavaScript is minified and combined (as much as possible)
- Enable gzip compression
- Ensure only necessary fonts, weights and character sets are installed
- Run Google speed test and optimise accordingly (record score and known issues)
- Run Web page test and optimise accordingly (record results)
- Incorporate CDN / Caching as required
Security
- Secure areas are locked down and not accessible by search engines
- Default CMS login URL is changed
- Default CMS username is changed
- SSL Certificate is requested
Post Launch
- Ensure site is visible to search engines
- SSL certificates successfully installed
- Images, media and links reference live URL
- Webfonts integrated and working correctly on live site
- Webfonts set to production (as required)
- 301 redirects are in place and working correctly
- Website URL has been submitted to Google
- Generate a new sitemap.xml and upload to root
- Site added to Google Webmaster tools and sitemap submitted
- Analytics has been setup and integrated into website